I know, I also thought it was a strange name too for a restaurant. The Local, right? But as it turns out, this place, along with its unique name, has a good story along with tons of its delicious recipes that are worth trying.

I got to know about this place from a good friend who took her visiting friends here and liked it. Word of mouth is still the best tool to spread the news around, especially for food when you know whose taste buds you can trust.

Turns out that The Local is quite good. It is a fancy place, decked out in an oh-so-very-Thai ambiance of silk upholstery, wooden cabinets and rattan furniture. The restaurant is set in two houses: the one in the front with private rooms and the two-storey one in the back with communal dining areas with airy spaces for tables. There’s also a small parking area and the place is accessible from both Soi Asoke and Sukhumvit Road.

Salad of Chakarn and pulled chicken with coconut cream

The Local is the run by the same folks behind the long-standing Thai restaurants Oamthong (in Sukhumvit 33) and Naj (Soi Convent). Recently, they decided to scrap Oamthong and poised The Local as their new flagship serving recreated ancient Thai recipes along with many of Oamthong’s popular items such as gaeng tai pla (curry of fermented fish, southern style) and pla tapien tom kem (sweet-and-salty braised tapien fish). The menu is packed with great looking dishes, some are as old as the year 1889. Being a sucker for history, I know I’d love this place from the beginning.
We began with their appetizers basket (Bt250) with a small bowl of khao soi gai (chicken curry noodle, northern-style), two pieces of khao tung na tung (rice crackers with creamy shrimp topping), two pieces of miang bua luang (assorted savoury in lotus petals), two pieces of gai hor baitoey (deep-fried chicken wrapped in Pandanus leaves) and two tiny dishes of kanom cheen sao nam (fermented rice vermicelli with coconut milk, pounded dried shrimp, garlic, lime and chilies). We were told to start with the mildest lotus leave bites and continue on to other things and finish it off with the khao soi bowl.

It is going to be quite tacky, but I’d say I love them all, especially the kanom cheen sao nam, that I asked if they have it in an entree portion (which they don’t), and the chicken thanks to the fragrant herbs and spices in the marinade and the oily soy sauce that comes with it. I also love the lotus petal bites – so delicate and fragrant with everything inside it lending the fresh tastes of all ingredients such as toasted peanuts, crispy-fried dried shrimps, toasted coconut, shallot and fresh limes. Wonderful combination of tastes in miang kham that we are so familiar with, but with a twist of using the tender lotus petal instead of the usual wild betal leaves.

We also had the yam bai chakarm gai (salad of chakram sprouts and shredded chicken breast). I’d say this is such a refreshing taste of a real Thai yam dish. The young and crunchy chakarm sprouts lend the base taste of natural saltiness (not too much), with fresh limes and chillies adding the contrast flavours while the sweet creaminess of the unique aromatic coconut cream and pieces of chicken breast along with the aromatic toasted shallots rounded it all off into a wonderful and tasty combination. So lovely.

For those looking for stronger tastes, try the ancient pla pak nam (spicy salad of fish fillets, toasted coconut, lemon grass, dried chillies and shallots, Bt220++) which is an ancient recipe dated back in the year 1889. The tender snapper fillets just absorb the juicy and flavourful combination of the spicy-aromatic-sweet-and-sour dressing and I love having each bite with the julienned fresh mango and fresh basil to add to the aromas. Everything in the dish is so fresh and tasty.

Then we chose this dish only because it has such a strange name. The ‘Gaeng kua neur pla bai som pan kee ma‘ (Bt250++) is a thick and pungent and really spicy Thai southern-style curry with fish fillet and bai som pan kee ma which is a native plant of the Thai south. The fragrant som pan leaves (with a combination of chilli and kaffir lime leaves put together) added to the pungency of the whole dish. This is a very spicy dish with strong notes of spices in the curry paste. A great dish for those looking for something strong and you might want to pair it with a bowl of moo hong which is tenderly braised pork meat Chinese style with duck and quail eggs (Bt260++) or a plate of lovely bai lieng pad kai (stir-fried bai lieng with egg, Bt180++).

If you like to explore food and culture, this is a great place to come. Along with the curry, they serve a platter of fresh local vegetables, among them the lovely young musk melon that is so crunchy and sweet. Great snack in itself if you’re not too busy putting out the fire in your mouth.

There are so many other things I wish to try at The Local. They also have good selections of namprik (Thai chilli dips), soups and curries. The steamed rice is served per person, non-stop, until you have your fill.

One annoying thing here, though, is their very very strong air-freshener which permeates the whole place we couldn’t escape anywhere. For dessert, we also tried their bualoy sam see which are tiny scrunchy beads of flours made with pumpkin, Pandanus leaves and taro with sweet young coconut flesh in a very very sweet coconut milk. Personally, I do not like my dessert way too sweet, so, I just ate the bualoy beads and coconut meat and skipped with coconut milk. :D

Expect to pay about Bt800++ per person.

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